I Am Hikaru and the One Not Me is Hikaru Too
by KawaiiBoushi
Summary: The thing about being an identical twin is that it makes no difference to the world which is which. So why should it make a difference if one is really the other, especially in the case of the particularly close Hitachiin twins? Set around vol. 13 of the manga. No major spoilers.


The first thing Hikaru noticed when he woke up was that he was on the wrong side of the bed. Stretching, he sat up and looked over at his brother and did a double take. "Kaoru, did you get up and dye your hair in the middle of the night?" he asked.

"Mmmwhat?" Kaoru mumbled sleepily, rolling over and opening one eye to peer at Hikaru – then both eyes opened wide. "Hikaru, when did you go back to being a ginger?"

"What are you talking about?" Hikaru asked as Kaoru sat up. As one, the twins turned their heads to look into the mirror on the dresser across from their bed, and as one, their jaws dropped. It seemed like overnight, Hikaru's hair had reverted to orange once more, and Kaoru was the brunette now.

"I didn't do that!" they both said, jumping out of bed and scrambling to the dresser. They leaned in as close as they could get and stared at their faces, then turned to stare at each other. Hikaru reached out and touched Kaoru's face as his twin did the same to him. To everyone else, the Hitachiin brothers were indistinguishable, but they knew themselves and each other, well, like the backs of their hands. Hikaru drew back and looked his brother up and down again and again, not wanting to believe the most logical explanation for what he was seeing.

"Kaoru…"

"Hikaru…"

"You're me!" they cried, coming to the same conclusion at the same time.

Hikaru gaped at his own body, standing across from him like a three-dimensional mirror. Admittedly, having an identical twin was always a bit like looking into a mirror, but this time it was without any of the subtle differences they alone noticed in each other.

"This has gotta be a dream or something, right?" Hikaru asked, staring at every visible inch of his brother's – now his – body.

"We're close, but close enough to be having the same dream at the same time?" Kaoru replied, biting his lip as he gazed at his reflection.

Hikaru gave up on inspecting himself and sat down on the dresser in front of the mirror, forcing his brother to look at him. "So…you're telling me this is for real?"

Kaoru spread his arms and shook his head to indicate he was just as lost as Hikaru. "All I'm saying is it seems pretty real to me."

The two stared at each other for a while more before a knock on their door startled them back to reality. "Yeah?" they called, and a maid peeked inside.

"Masters Hikaru, Kaoru, school starts in half an hour. Will you be having breakfast before you leave?"

"I'm not hungry," they answered at the same time, and the maid nodded.

"The car will be ready whenever you are," she said, giving a small curtsy before closing the door.

"So…we go to school like this?" Hikaru asked.

"I guess we have to," Kaoru replied. "We have to tell the rest of the Host Club what happened, and maybe they can help us figure this out."

Hikaru nodded. "I sure hope so."

…

Half an hour later, Hikaru and Kaoru walked into homeroom together and sat down on either side of Haruhi, like always. They had decided to wait until after Host Club to tell her and everyone else what had happened, so they just said good morning and went about business as usual.

"Hey guys," she greeted them, and turned to her right to face Hikaru. "Kaoru, I've been meaning to ask you –"

"I'm Hikaru," he cut her off quickly.

"Oh." Haruhi tipped her head to the side, regarding the orange-haired Hitachiin. "Sorry, I didn't realize you two had switched colors today." She shifted in her seat so she was facing Kaoru and continued talking. Hikaru sighed, his heart sinking despite himself. He knew it was ridiculous, but part of him had been hoping that Haruhi, who knew them better than anyone else, would somehow be able to instinctively tell that something was off. What had he expected, that she would leap up and yell, "Hikaru, what are you doing in Kaoru's body?"

The rest of the day continued much in this manner, with students and teachers who thought they finally knew the twins from each being disappointed, though not as much as the twins themselves. When their guests tried to play the Which One is Hikaru Game, Hikaru and Kaoru just gave up and let them all win for once; after all, they were all right in one way or another.

After club hours ended for the day and all the customers had gone home, Hikaru and Kaoru stood in front of the double doors to prevent the hosts from leaving. "We have something to say," they announced.

"What's wrong?" Haruhi asked.

The twins exchanged glances, not sure where to start. Hikaru took a deep breath and just went for it. "When Kaoru and I woke up this morning, we'd…switched bodies."

Silence greeted the statement, the other hosts looking around at each other and then back at the Hitachiins in confusion.

"Switched bodies?" Haruhi finally repeated uncertainly.

"Yeah, I woke up in Hikaru's body," Kaoru reiterated impatiently. "We switched."

"How could you tell?" Tamaki asked, simply curious, not taking into consideration the twins' sensitivity.

"Just because you can't tell us apart doesn't mean we can't!" Hikaru snapped. "Do you think I wouldn't even know if I was suddenly in a body that wasn't my own?"

Tamaki held up his hands in defense and Haruhi took a step forward. "Look, guys, calm down. It's just…that's crazy, you know that, right?"

"Haruhi, surely you of all people believe us?" Kaoru asked.

Haruhi frowned, looking between the two. "I…I mean, you're Kaoru, and you…" she pointed at the ginger twin. "You're Hikaru. I believe _that_. But people don't just 'switch bodies.' If this is some kind of joke, I don't get it."

"It's not a joke! Why won't you believe us? This is serious!" Hikaru seethed.

Kyoya, who had been taking notes, looked up from his little black book. "I see no way to market this body-switch play, and if it's not a prank, I'm afraid we don't understand."

"Yeah, we don't either," the twins shot back. "That's why we need to figure out a way to change back!"

An awkward silence stretched out before Haruhi finally broke it. "Look, guys, I need to get to the supermarket," she said, shrugging and rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably.

The other hosts nodded and put in their own reasons for having to leave. The dismissal in their excuses hit Hikaru and Kaoru where it hurt, and they shrank away from the doors despondently, allowing their friends to leave. Haruhi gave them one last perplexed look before exiting, and with that, the Hitachiins were alone. Wordlessly, they looked at each other and came to an agreement to go home.

Hikaru dyed his hair brown again and Kaoru left his the way it was. What difference did it make if they were identical again for a while until it grew out? They went to bed early that night, hoping that when they woke up, they would be right again, but nothing had changed. Hikaru was still Kaoru, and Kaoru was still Hikaru.

After a while, they gave up hope that they would ever switch back, or that anyone would notice that they were different, and gave up trying to convince their friends. With time, even the shock of that out-of-body-experience when they saw each other faded. They shared everything, so it was as if nothing had changed.

"It's strange, isn't it," Hikaru commented one evening a few months after the swap, "knowing we're so interchangeable that the world doesn't even notice something so huge."

Kaoru nodded. "I know exactly how you feel." That, of course, went without saying. "Like we're not even separate beings. But maybe it's a blessing in disguise."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow skeptically. "In disguise as what?"

"If this had happened to anyone else, it would be horrible. They'd have to live the rest of their lives as someone else, or have everyone think they're crazy. But we still get to be ourselves, with no big fuss."

Hikaru shrugged, sighing wearily. "Maybe you're right. I dunno."

Kaoru smiled and hugged his elder brother. "I know one thing. No matter what, Hikaru will always be Hikaru, and Kaoru will always be Kaoru. Nothing will ever change that."

**A/N: I'm sooo soooorryyy! I've abandoned you guys for so long! ;_; I'm ashamed to say I've barely worked on my next story since last time we met. I've just been busy…I hope this tides you over for now…this idea just came to me a few months ago, and the question "what would happen if identical twins witched bodies?" just really got me thinking. And so here we have another fic I never would have seen myself writing. What do you guys think?**


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